apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I haven't any photos, but in one house we lived in we created a big storage unit in the dining area (right next to the doorway to the kitchen) by putting a wooden bookcase atop a wooden chest of drawers. They were about the same width, and both white painted wood, and it ended up looking like a great, built in place, china cupboard. As we had nowhere near enough cupboards in the kitchen, we stored all the dishes and silverware on the shelves and put both the tablecloths and various "pantry storage" in the drawers of the former dresser.

Looks good. :)

i think if you painted it a unified color or paint it the wall color it would end up being pleasing to the eyes and wouldn't look like you pulled it together. what a great idea! too bad we all don't have this type of stuff sitting around the house :)

love the middle cabinets

I assume you're planning to repaint everything the same color, and line everything up evenly on the left...

I think this is great! But I would have painted them first, in a color - or colors - that would have gone well with that interesting tone on the window wall.

It looks and works great but if you painted it all a single color it would really look fabulous!

I think it looks good too! It's the bright, fun colors that make it work. Maybe you could do something so that the wood tones match a bit more? Then it might feel even more cohesive.

Could you move the board down a smidge so its top lines up with the top of the bookshelf?

Be sure to line them up... either all along the left-hand side or it might be cute to center them all and then split your bulletin board contents up into two wall hangings on either side of the top bookcase. I don't think you even need to re-paint since all three of the bookcases carry the same wood theme... plus you could make the background to the two wall hangings the same blue as the bottom bookcase and it'd look great and like it was meant to be.

So many people are way too picky on here. I think it looks fabulous. I like the eclectic thrown together look of it.

I really like that it´s so "mismatched", and that it´s NOT painted the same color. It´s much more interesting the way it is. I like the colors with the wood a lot!

I have a short bookcase that my grandmother gave to me, and occasionally in the interest of saving space moreso than function, I have put it on top of my desk as sort of a hutch. It's not a beauty, but I wouldn't have done it if it looked super half-assed either. The bookcase is directly next to my desk now, so it's not like they belong only where you can't see them both at the same time.

I think it's a great solution! I put a bookcase on top of my low entertainment center in my old apartment to make more of a statement - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lmcwethy/3028092529/in/set-72157609027374478/

Kyle, I love it! Most especially the modular units your brother made.

http://www.marieclairemaison.com/,l-escalier,200249,232,3

From Marie-Claire Maison, something in the same spirit, very inspiring.

You rocked the ghetto tansu. In a good way. I too, would love to see it aligned on the left- and for the top piece to get distressed or faux bois-ed in some way that includes the same blue as the bottom piece , so it rhymed better with the two lower pieces.